Farm bureau weighs in on beef recall

Hilary Smith

Friday

Feb 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 29, 2008 at 1:16 AM

Bureau President John Lincoln contends the Humane Society waited too long to provide critical evidence to food safety inspectors.

New York Farm Bureau President and Bloomfield resident John Lincoln said Thursday in a statement that the federally mandated recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a California slaughterhouse on Feb. 17 “could have been mitigated.”

“We agree with (U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary) Ed Schafer that because the Humane Society waited months to provide evidence to food-safety inspectors, they put the public at risk,” Lincoln stated.

The Department of Agriculture recalled the meat earlier this month from Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif., citing evidence that the company had violated health regulations. About 37 million pounds of the meat had been sent to nationwide school lunch programs. No illnesses have been linked to the meat.

Lincoln’s statement on behalf of the Farm Bureau called the company’s treatment of “downer” cows — those too sick or injured to stand up or walk on their own — “appalling.”

Video footage released by the Humane Society of United States just prior to the recall had shown plant workers pushing over downer cows with forklifts, forcing them to stand upright by using electric prods and otherwise mishandling them.

Lincoln added that the American Farm Bureau Federation, the national organization to which the New York Farm Bureau belongs, has issued a statement in support of the voluntary recall and the USDA’s investigation into Westland/Hallmark’s practices.

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